


we'll go on like we've always done

by shledzguohn



Category: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-10
Updated: 2012-03-10
Packaged: 2017-11-01 17:45:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/359563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shledzguohn/pseuds/shledzguohn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Bailey's dancing ruins a card house. This releases coworker's inner diva bitch." As prompted on tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	we'll go on like we've always done

**Author's Note:**

> .... this is really almost completely just an inside joke, laughs. [Verne](http://archiveofourown.org/users/vamoosi/pseuds/vamoosi) and I have named Bailey's coworker (the only person in the game with a unique portrait and no notebook entry) Payton, for no reason besides that apparently it came to him in a dream. And... they're really good friends?? and. yeah. i have no excuse for this sorry.
> 
> title: ani difranco - outta me, onto you

There it was. The next card he drew — ha, ace of hearts, how fitting — would be the final part to his masterpiece that had taken six decks, eighteen stories, and the efforts of the large part of his week from Monday morning to this late Friday night. There would be no emergency alarms letting loose, no electric guitar in the phone cell next door, and _definitely_ no horseplay behind him to disturb his efforts. The world seemed to hold its breath along with him as he oh-so-carefully climbed atop his swivel chair to lay down this one, final ….—

_“Payton!”_ The heavy iron door slammed behind Bailey as he ran up to his partner’s desk. “You’re not going to _believe_ what just happened at the justice minister’s office — that is, I expect you to believe it; I was simply using the phrase to emphasise how unusual…” He stopped. Blinked at his partner. “Hey, are you okay?”

It was gone. All that work, every last storey collapsed onto the laminated plywood of his desk through a combination of the changing air pressures when his partner had opened the door, the vibrations of his stomping footfalls on the floor, and the way his sudden shout had startled Payton into losing his balance on the chair and performing a belly-flop onto the peak of the structure.

Bailey took in the scene. “Were you standing on top of that chair again?” he asked accusingly. “I told you, that’s dangerous! What if you got hurt? We’d have to report it to the chief, and worse, we’d have to reset the little counter at the front! It’s been one hundred eight days since our last—”

“Shut up,” Payton mumbled into the wall.

“What did you say?”

“I _said_ ,” and he moved swiftly from lying prone on his desk to standing in front of his partner, so quickly that the tips of his sneakers were touching Bailey’s shined dress shoes and one hand was wrapped around his tie while the other pushed his shoulder against the cold metal of the emergency cabinet before Bailey could even draw breath, “shut. Up.”

Bailey stayed quiet. Payton could feel his pulse beating faster under the press of his palm.

“Do you know what it’s like, being me? Working here? You might find your own simple satisfaction in your sad little guard duty, doing your best as the smallest cog in a big machine and lying to yourself that you’ve changed something for the better because of it. But this ... this was never meant to be _my_ fate.

“I was gonna be somebody, you know? Work my way up the ranks my own way, become a detective, do some real work out in the field.” His tone grew more conversational, but his grip on the knot of Bailey’s tie never loosened, and he could see sweat begin to form on the man’s brow. Payton never made eye contact, the brim of his cap still shadowing his own face.

“But I never made it. Always passed over for promotion, never breaking away from the rest of the pack. I worked at this dump for years telling myself the same pack of lies you’re feeding yourself, until one day I woke up and stopped. Stopped pretending my work was ever going to get ‘rewarding’. Stopped pretending I was ever going to make something of myself. Stopped putting in effort. Started giving up.”

“Payton…” Bailey’s features softened at his words; his tone was pitying in a way that made the back of Payton’s throat sour. He wasn’t looking for his _pity_. But he couldn’t stop now.

He pressed the nail of his thumb into Bailey’s shoulder to feel him flinch. “But _you_. You never give up. I don’t think you even know what you have, what you _are_ — you want to know why I keep coming back to this concrete hellhole in the morning? It ain’t the coffee and doughnuts, I’ll tell you that.”

His lips were pulled tight together in a thin line, but he sighed and softened his gaze towards Bailey, who looked back with a wary stare. Payton brought his hand to his head and knocked his cap off his hair to fall to the floor. It was like removing his armour, revealing himself to this man he called his coworker, his partner. His friend.

“It’s because of you. It’s always been you.” And Payton kissed him right there, up against the cool metal cabinet.

Bailey’s eyes widened for a moment, his pulse quickening, before he accepted the kiss, welcomed it, and returned it. “Oh, Payton,” he whispered breathily as Payton leaned into his neck, lining his collarbone with dry, warm caresses. “I’m so happy you made the first move. I always feS ~~~~~ _ ~~Z~~ ~~_—\\___

_AAAAGH!  
Sheesh, what’s the matter, Payton? I just touched your shoulder. What are you writing?  
NOTHING! It’s— I mean. It’s nothing. Seriously.  
Hmph! You sure seemed to be concentrating hard on a whole lot of nothing, then. Oooh, I know! You finally understand the usefulness of writing down important duty memos! I knew I’d get you into the habit some day!  
… Fine. You caught me. It’s a, uh, private … important duty memo. My eyes only.  
Oh, fine. But I do have a long history of writing memos! If you ever have any trouble, you should ask me for help! I’ll always be here for you if you need me.  
… Yeah. Yeah, I know. Thanks, Bailey. Appreciate it._


End file.
